Handheld electronic devices, such as cell phones, radios and GPS devices are often carried in clothing pockets or carrying pouches worn by users. Law enforcement personnel, in particular, frequently carry their police radios in pouches attached to their utility belts. Conventional radio pouches allow radios to be securely carried, but do not allow the radios to be conveniently accessed or accessed with a single hand.
The radio holster of this invention provides a holster that securely locks a handheld radio within the holster body, but allows the radio to be easily withdrawn from the holster with simple gross motor skills of one hand. The holster incorporates a lock mechanism that automatically actuates when the radio is inserted into the holster and is deactivated by pressing on the radio in a small downward and outward direction. Consequently, the holster allows the user the ability to immediate holster and withdraw the radio without needing to activate or deactivate the lock mechanism.
The radio holster includes pliable front and back covers affixed to a rigid support frame. The support frame has a recessed channel that has a guide track and a button cavity that acts as a keyhole for locking the radio inside the holster. The wall forming the button cavity wall is back cut or angled to form an upper lip, which is configured to receive the button head of a coupling mechanism used by the radio to restrictively hold the radio within the holster. The support frame also carries a pair of internal cantilever springs. A back spring exerts a lateral force on the radio when seated within the holster to push the bottom of the radio laterally away from the support frame. A bottom spring exerts a force on the radio when seated within the holster to push the bottom of the radio upward within the holster.
The radio is inserted into the holster against the upward force of the bottom spring. As the radio is manually inserted into the holster, the button head of the radio connector rides along the channel toward the button cavity. As the radio is pushed completely into the holster, a back spring pushes the bottom of the radio away from the support frame to push the button head into the button cavity of the support frame. Once fully seated within the holster, the bottom spring exerts an upward force on the bottom of the radio to lift it slightly so that the button head of the radio slides under the lip formed in the support frame, thereby locking the radio within the holster. The radio is removed from the holster by initially pushing downward on the radio against the upward force of the spring, which slides the button head from under the lip and outward, which unseats the button head from the button cavity, thereby unlocking the radio so that it can be manually lifted from the holster.
The above described features and advantages, as well as others, will become more readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.